Tag Archives: Alliance Defending Freedom

National Catholic Register: ADF International’s executive director, Benjamin Bull, said the government “cannot require a private religious school to tell its students that their faith is no more valid than a myriad of other, conflicting faith traditions. All faith-based organizations must be free to speak and act consistently with their faith or religious freedom is not at all free.”

Panam Post: “This decision means that faith-based schools are free to operate according to the faith they teach and espouse,” said lawyer Gerald Chipeur, [allied attorney] from the Alliance Defending Freedom. “This ruling makes clear that the government is on dangerous ground if it seeks to force a private organization to act in a manner completely contrary to its deepest faith convictions.”

Alliance Defending Freedom: Perhaps, like me, you find it hard not to marvel at the determined effort by so many authorities throughout the U.S. to impose silence on any speech that might disagree with their policies, raise thoughtful questions, or simply provide information useful to voters, students, and other fellow citizens.

Acton Institute: An attorney working with the Alliance Defending Freedom International filed a brief last year with the high court in defense of the school after the court granted them the right to intervene in defense of the school’s freedom of religion and conscience.

ADF International: The Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously Thursday that the government cannot force a private Catholic high school to teach a government-mandated ethics and religion course that includes teaching contrary to Catholic belief.

One News Now: “You see, our government was formed to be liberty’s greatest protector, not its greatest threat,” ADF attorney Jim Campbell tells OneNewsNow. “But in this case, the government is coming after our client’s liberty and his ability to make a living.”

The Washington Times (CNA): “Five years into Obamacare, it is now evident that SBA List’s warnings were true. This law is forcing Americans to pay for abortions in numerous ways, and SBA List had a right to say so,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Casey Mattox. The legal group had filed a friend-of-the-court brief with Susan B. Anthony List.

ADF Media: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a Lexington-area printer will be available for media interviews Friday following oral arguments in state court. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission is forcing Blaine Adamson of Hands On Originals to print messages that conflict with his religious beliefs, so ADF attorneys asked the Fayette County Circuit Court to weigh in.

Alliance Defending Freedom: As the owner of the printing shop Hands On Originals in Lexington, Kentucky, Blaine Adamson is used to receiving all kinds of print requests. He regularly makes judgment calls about where the line is in terms of messages that his shop will express or promote to remain consistent with his religious convictions. He’s even gone so far as to make arrangements with other local printers to ensure that when he needs to decline a request that conflicts with his Christian faith, he can refer these customers to another shop that will match his price.

The Global Dispatch: “Five years into Obamacare, it is now evident that SBA List’s warnings were true. This law is forcing Americans to pay for abortions in numerous ways, and SBA List had a right to say so,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox. “If the exposure of that fact was part of what cost Rep. Driehaus hisjob, that’s because his constituents, like most Americans, reject taxpayer-funded abortion.”

Life News: “Five years into Obamacare, it is now evident that SBA List’s warnings were true. This law is forcing Americans to pay for abortions in numerous ways, and SBA List had a right to say so,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox. “If the exposure of that fact was part of what cost Rep. Driehaus his job, that’s because his constituents, like most Americans, reject taxpayer-funded abortion.”

ADF Media: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit Friday upheld a district court ruling that threw out a former congressman’s defamation lawsuit against the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List. Former U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus filed the defamation case against SBA List after it publicized that his vote for Obamacare was a vote for taxpayer-funded abortion.

One News Now: “I hope that the Supreme Court will correct courts like this that have decided that fundamental beliefs and the fundamental rights as Americans and as non-profit organizations can be violated by government schemes like ObamaCare in some effort to promote the abortion agenda,” Bowman poses.

The Daily Signal: Chalk up another setback for religious freedom. Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled against Geneva College and other non-profit religious employers in their challenge to the Obamacare mandate that forces employers to provide healthcare coverage of abortion-inducing drugs and devices.

National Law Journal (Access via Google): Matt Bowman, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, one of the lawyers for the challengers in the Third Circuit case, said the organization has not decided whether to seek en banc review of the panel decision or to petition the Supreme Court.

Life News: Now, that family is stuck paying the abortion activists’ $140,000 legal bill. Alliance Defending Freedom, the pro-life legal group that represented the family in the case, explains what’s happened.

Catholic Education Daily: Senior Counsel Gregory Baylor stated in the organization’s press release: All Americans should oppose unjust laws that force people – under threat of punishment – to give up their fundamental freedoms and act contrary to their beliefs. That’s why we are seriously considering appeal of the 3rd Circuit’s decision. Geneva College simply wants to abide by the Christian faith it espouses and teaches instead of being forced into an unacceptable inconsistency by the government. The administration has no business punishing people of faith for making decisions consistent with that faith.

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor: “All Americans should oppose unjust laws that force people – under threat of punishment – to give up their fundamental freedoms and act contrary to their beliefs. That’s why we are seriously considering appeal of the 3rd Circuit’s decision. Geneva College simply wants to abide by the Christian faith it espouses and teaches instead of being forced into an unacceptable inconsistency by the government. The administration has no business punishing people of faith for making decisions consistent with that faith.”

Go Fund Me: Despite winning a 12-day trial, seven years later Kevin and his family are still paying the price. Not only did the state and activists appeal, but due to an unprecedented Ninth Circuit ruling, the Stormans must pay over $140,000.00 to Legal Voice (an abortion rights group) for attorney fees and costs Legal Voice claims it incurred when the trial court required them to give the Stormans documents related to the role abortion groups played in drafting the regulations and their targeting of religious objectors. This is a substantial financial hardship on the Stormans.

ADF Media: The Canadian Supreme Court struck down total prohibitions on doctor-prescribed death Friday but said that Parliament may only allow a “stringently limited, carefully monitored system of exceptions” and affirmed that physicians cannot be forced to participate in killing someone because patients do not have a “right to death.” Canada’s existing laws will remain in place for another year.

NYC Religion: “The Department did not need to open its facilities for after-hours nongovernmental uses, but it did. Now it must abide by constitutional rules forbidding express discrimination against religious expression and practices in otherwise permissible uses,” the Alliance reply brief explains.

Catholic News Agency: “All Americans should oppose unjust laws that allow the government to force people to surrender their constitutionally protected freedom to live and work according to their deepest beliefs,” Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Michael J. Norton said Jan. 27.

One News Now: Since 1995, ADF has been representing churches kicked out of public school facilities. ADF is asking the Supreme Court to review a 2-1 ruling from the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allows New York to kick churches out of schools that rent to other organizations such as the Boy Scouts. ADF attorney Jordan Lorence has taken the long-running case to the high court.

Christian News Network: Earlier this month, attorneys for the city filed a brief with the court again arguing that the policy was reasonable and non-discriminatory. “The department’s decision to make public schools available to religious organizations for a wide range of activities, but not for worship services or as a house of worship, is constitutional,” it read. “The policy does not prohibit, limit, or burden any religious practice; does not entangle the government in matters of religion; and does not impair petitioners’ ability to speak freely.”

Alliance Defending Freedom: What is this strange obsession so many in our nation have with silencing opinions they disagree with? It’s not like there aren’t other options – open and reasonable debate, the verdict of the ballot box, the simple option of ignoring those with whom one doesn’t see eye to eye.

The Blaze: A Christian church is continuing its battle for the unfettered right to rent New York City public school buildings to host worship services during non-school hours, with a conservative legal firm filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that pushes back against the local government’s ban on such rentals.

Charisma News: “In New York City, any community group can meet in vacant school buildings for any purpose except for religious groups meeting to worship God. The city’s arguments in defense of this policy cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence.

Alliance Defending Freedom: I like comfort. There’s something about a soft pillow, a warm blanket, and a nap on a Sunday afternoon. It’s nice when my 2-year-old son plays quietly, my family gets along, and I face no traffic on my way to work. It’s simple. It’s easy. It’s peaceful. But even with all this comfort, there’s a problem.

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton: “All Americans should oppose unjust laws that allow the government to force people to surrender their constitutionally protected freedom to live and work according to their deepest beliefs. While we are very pleased with the order issued in this case, many other similar cases continue throughout the country. In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling against the abortion-pill mandate in Conestoga and Hobby Lobby, and the clearly protected right of Americans to be free from this type of government coercion at home, in their family businesses, and in non-profit endeavors that benefit everyone, the Obama administration should give up its blind and indefensible efforts to punish people of faith and let freedom prevail.”

ADF Media: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Monday that answers New York City’s arguments against high court scrutiny of its 20-year-old quest to ban worship services in empty public school buildings. In September of last year, ADF asked the high court to review a 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit that upheld a city policy prohibiting worship services in public school buildings during non-school hours. The panel’s ruling is on hold until the Supreme Court decides whether to take the case.

The Washington Times: Another family, Barth and Abbie Bracy, who are pro-life leaders in Connecticut and Rhode Island, fought and won a legislative battle to ensure that at least some health insurance plans in Connecticut do not subsidize abortions. Similar actions are active or planned in other states, said Casey Mattox, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, who works with the Bracys.

Breitbart: Also galling to Montgomery County officials is the fact that by following NARAL’s advice, they had to pay Centro Tepeyac $375,000 in legal fees. Matt Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom said, “NARAL’s response to that is to give more bad advice. Even one of NARAL’s best friends on the county council says that his colleagues probably would not adopt NARAL’s proposed ‘truth-in-advertising’ law after NARAL had caused this court debacle.”

Life Site News: After LifeSiteNews published e-mails Tuesday showing Montgomery County officials collaborating with NARAL’s Maryland chapter in an effort to shut down pro-life pregnancy centers, the county council’s current president has admitted they are authentic.

American Thinker: A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveals it: officials in Montgomery County (Mo Co), Maryland collaborated with activists from rabidly pro-abortion NARAL to shut down a pro-life pregnancy resource center in the county.

Christian News Wire: Responding to a report from LifeSiteNews.com uncovering an ongoing plan between the Maryland chapter of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the public officials in Montgomery County, Md., to impede or eliminate pregnancy help organizations, Heartbeat International President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., pointed to the success of pregnancy centers in her companion article at LifeSiteNews.com.

ADF Media: An Alliance Defending Freedom attorney and allied attorney representing a Columbia, Missouri, Christian pre-school and daycare center will be available for media interviews Thursday following oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.

Life Site News: Represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, Centro fought the ordinance, which did not apply to abortion clinics. On April 30, 2014, Montgomery County dropped its defense of the law after a third decision against it on March 7, in which U.S. District Judge Deborah Chasanow, a Clinton appointee, noted that the people who accused the centers of spreading “misinformation” were “universally volunteers from a pro-choice organization sent to investigate practices” at the centers.

Aleteia: Casey Mattox, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious freedom organization, said the bill could force Catholic institutions, pro-life groups, and insurers to pay for elective abortions. Although the city council hearing was held one week before the Supreme Court’s ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Mattox said the legislation was a “pre-emptive strike.”

Tri-City Herald: Kristen Waggoner, one of Stutzman’s attorneys, said Wednesday that, “we’re disappointed in the ruling,” noting it means Stutzman would be on the hook personally for civil penalties and attorney fees should she lose.

CBN: “Barronelle and numerous others like her around the country have been more than willing to serve any and all customers, but they are not willing to promote any and all messages,” Kristen Waggoner, an Alliance Defending Freedom attorney explained.

Christian News Network: “No one should be forced to pay a secret fee to cover other people’s elective abortions,” said Casey Mattox, Senior Legal Counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). “The Obama administration needs to stop deceiving the American people and coercing them to fund abortion. No matter where a person stands on abortion itself, everyone should be able to agree that this type of intentional and illegal deception is wrong and should stop.”

Life News: Alliance Defending Freedom, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, and the Family Research Council voiced concern to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Monday over proposed rules that continue to allow the cover-up of abortion surcharges in Obamacare.

Live Action News: Alliance Defending Freedom, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, and the Family Research Council submitted an open letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) voicing the concerns shared by American taxpayers regarding illegal abortion coverage in the Affordable Care Act.

The Christian Post: “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” ADF legal counsel Matt Sharp said in a statement. “The law on this is extremely clear: school policies cannot target religious speech for exclusion. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.”

The Daily Signal: Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian-based legal organization, filed a lawsuit against the school earlier this month. “Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate. Non-disruptive private student expression is protected by the First Amendment,” the group wrote in litigation.

Caffeinated Thoughts: “No one should be forced to pay a secret fee to cover other people’s elective abortions,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox. “The Obama administration needs to stop deceiving the American people and coercing them to fund abortion. No matter where a person stands on abortion itself, everyone should be able to agree that this type of intentional and illegal deception is wrong and should stop.”

Catholic Education Daily: “Religious organizations have the right of autonomy over their internal governance, the right to be treated the same as all other religious groups and denominations by the government, and the right to be free from government meddling and intrusion in their operations and beliefs,” wrote attorneys for the Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of the Newman Society and faithful Catholic colleges.

ADF Media: Alliance Defending Freedom, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, and the Family Research Council voiced concern to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Monday over proposed rules that continue to allow the cover-up of abortion surcharges in Obamacare.

Via The Wall Street Journal (accessible via Google): On Dec. 2, the Council of the District of Columbia passed an amendment to the D.C. Human Rights Act, repealing protections for religious schools and colleges to determine their own rules regarding gay and lesbian student activities. If the current or incoming mayor signs it, the amendment will become law and likely force the Catholic University of America and the Archdiocese of Washington schools to provide recognition, facilities and perhaps even funding to gay and lesbian student clubs that oppose Catholic teachings.

The Washington Times: Conservative groups are riled over the D.C. Council’s passage of a new anti-discrimination law they say would illegally require organizations to provide insurance coverage of abortions and other reproductive health care procedures regardless of whether they violate the organizations’ religious beliefs.

Life News: Yesterday, the Council of the District of Columbia passed a bill that could force employers in the nation’s capital to cover elective abortions in their health plans and require even pro-life organizations to hire individuals who oppose their views on abortion. The bill will now go to Mayor Vincent Gray for approval.

FRC Blog: Yesterday, the DC Council passed a bill called the “Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act of 2014,” which could force employers in the District of Columbia (including the Family Research Council) to cover abortions.

Life Site News: People are probably inclined to think more warmly of churches amid the cold winds of Christmas than at any other time of the year, but, sad to say, even the spirit of the season isn’t enough to dissuade some from all out legal assaults on houses of worship.

The Daily Signal: Today, the Council of the District of Columbia passed a bill that could force employers in the nation’s capital to cover elective abortions in their health plans and require even pro-life organizations to hire individuals who oppose their views on abortion. The bill will now go to Mayor Vincent Gray for approval.

ADF Media: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys will be available for media interviews following a hearing Friday in state court in the case of a florist being sued for acting consistently with her faith. Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers, declined to use her creative skills to participate in and design custom floral arrangements for a long-time customer’s same-sex ceremony. Stutzman instead referred the customer to one of a large number of other florists in the area who were willing to fill his order.

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley says these atheists are trying to recover millions of dollars from One Love Ministries and Calvary Chapel Oahu that they never owed because they’ve been paying the agreed-upon amount to the schools all along.

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Star-Telegram: A group of Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie, filed more than a dozen amendments to reduce or eliminate funding for the program, which provides “pregnancy and parenting information” to low-income women.

Time: The Republican contenders who weighed in sided with Pence, who party strategists say could still emerge as a White House contender himself. The cascade of support was a clear sign of the importance of the issue for the party’s social conservatives, who have increasingly rallied behind the cause as voters and the courts moved to legalize same-sex marriage in states around the country.

D. James Kennedy Ministries: This past weekend, the mainstream media was aflame as a result of Indiana’s “discriminatory” Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which Governor Mike Pence signed into law.